Noura Mint Seymali

Noura Mint Seymali: Tzzeni, OUT NOW on Glitterbeat Records.

Tzenni in Hassaniya means to circulate, to spin, to turn. It’s the name for a whirling dance performed to the music of Moorish griots, often under khaima tents thrown up for street gatherings in the sandy quartiers of Nouakchott and out across the wide deserts of Mauritania.

Produced and recorded across an appropriately dizzying array of locations and social contexts (New York City, Dakar, Nouakchott) chanteuse Noura Mint Seymali's album Tzenni is a contemporary articulation of Moorish griot music from Mauritania—an artform that has been evolving and gaining momentum for centuries.

Noura Mint Seymali is an artist profoundly steeped in history and tradition but also rigorously devoted to its global resonance. Songlines magazine wrote about Noura and her band that: "this Mauritanian music is an excellent example of roots rocketed into the 21st century."

At the moment, Noura's album 'Tzenni' is #2 on World Music Charts Europe!